Lijiang Ancient City Zhongyi Market

May 20, 2012China 2012Ancient City Zhongyi Market, china, dumplings, food, lijiang, old town, open air market, public market, wet market, yunnan Gallery

I don’t recall what this is… It’s the design above the doorway of a restaurant, I think.

My first experience with the “Open Air Market” (Ancient City Zhongyi Market) in Lijiang was frustrating. I couldn’t find my hotel, and I wandered into the opening of an alley from which market vendors expanded out from the market tables and into the sidewalk. I couldn’t navigate and most of the vendors didn’t know where the hotel was. Turns out it was right next door to the market. I didn’t know at the time, but what I saw was just a sliver of this massive market.

In the morning I headed there for breakfast and to take some photos. My first impressions of the market were startling and traumatic. I had entered on the wrong side… the fresh meats side. I’ll get into that later. The market is basically divided into 3 sections: Meats, Vegetables, Fruits… with some small outcroppings of eggs, mushrooms, noodles, tofu, spices, pickles, and some plastic goods. There were rows upon rows of ancient wood tables stacked high with consumables, soaked with water from spray hoses and tinted by the color of the sun through colored plastic umbrellas. Scooters and tiny red trucked honked their high-pitched horns to let shoppers know that nothing was going to stop them from delivering their piled-high goods. The floor, littered with with craps of plastic, green leaves, and the stray round fruit, were constantly being grazed by old ladies with brooms and trash bags. Here your garbage is the the floor. There are no trash bins in sight. Half the vendors were busy setting up or grooming their veggies, while others, particularly the prepared goods vendors, such as tofu and noodles, were barely awake. The place was buzzing everywhere. From the food vendors in the makeshift dining area (right next to the fresh meat butchering) to those selling good from their backpack in a side alley, everyone was talking loud and everyone was pushing their goods.

The market is huge… I spent hours there and still didn’t get a chance to see all of it.
You can see in the satellite imagery all the cart vendor umbrellas in the alleys in-between the market structures.

I head to the Open Air Market for breakfast (Fresh-made pork dumplings)

We also had this fried dough… or at least I think it was.

My dumplings being cooked…

Pork dumplings, spicy fried potatoes, chili dipping sauce

The potatoes are deep fried and then smothered in chili oil.

In the back of the “food court” chefs prepare the vegetables for the day.

Many dishes take a dozen or so spices to be complete. A chef will often take a scoop from each spice to top off a bowl of soup.

The variety of produce here was astounding. There were fruits and veggies with shapes and colors I have never seen before… everything was fresh and very colorful.

Pickled eggs, anyone?

Sichuan chilies are popular in Yunnan too.

This boy, wearing his school uniform, gets in some studying at his mother’s market stall before school starts.

Basket backpacks were extremely well-crafted onside by a series of vendors and used by many consumers. Cost: $25.

Fresh spices! Bring your own container or the vendor just dumps spoonfuls into a plastic bag.

Pickled veggies, beans, and tubers

Pickled tubers

I have no idea what this is… but it looks spicy

Bittermelon

Tofu (Fresh and fried)

Considered one of the most disgusting foods in the world, these pickled eggs are preserved in a salty soil. They are sold everywhere. I believe I had one during a business meeting and also in KFC breakfast porridge.